Wonderful pics ! Thank you... It must be a very special trip for the Danish Royals - compared to visiting places in Denmark.

Absolutely.

And it's one of those assignment where it's really great to be a press photographer!

I remember Countess Alexandra's first visit to Greenland.
I'm not sure what she had expected and she probably wasn't sure herself. She later told about her first impression when visiting such a remote village. She thought this must be a backward and pretty poor part of the realm, only to discover when she was invited inside one of the houses for a cup of coffee that there was a huge B&O TV in the living room!
Greenland is in so many ways a land of contrasts.

#2: QMII at a "kaffemik" = coffee-mik, which can be defined as a somewhat festive and somewhat formal social gathering, with coffee, bread and pastry. It's more than just a cup of coffee and a chat. There is a similar tradition in Southern Jutland.

#3: The vessels in the background are from the Greenlandic Coast guard and even though armed they are under the control of the Greenlandic Parliament and not the Danish navy.

#6: Something you should be very careful not to do, should you ever visit a village in Greenland!

#7: Notice the skins of polar bears in the back ground. The main occupation of the locals is hunting and fishing.

#13: PH was very fascinated by the smoked fish hanging outside. He "threathned" to purchase some and serve a very traditional Greenlandic meal for those onboard Danneborg.

#15: Sailors onboard the patrol frigate Hvidbjørnen preparing for a "jubelrulle" = saluting the royal yacht as the frigate pass her.

#19: Going through a "kongeport = royal gate. Such a decorative entrance are often seen at weddings, anniversaries and other festive occasions in DK.

#25: Such charming fishing boats with their distinctive sound are unfortunately becoming rarer in DK.

#26: Even PET is enjoying the balmy weather.

#31: Who needs a mere clutch from Gucci when you have a handbag of sealskin?

It seems that the first 2 days of the visit was really quiet, almost like a private visit with small visits which were low key as we didn't get much information and pictures. It seems now we are getting the news with pictures.

In case I haven't forgotten anything it's the third royal visit for Nuuk this year: in March Prince Joachim,
Princess Marie, Prince Felix and Prince Nikolai had been there and in April Crown Prince Frederik had made
a visit to the town.

___________________
Today, July 17, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik have been in Nuuk.

In case I haven't forgotten anything it's the third royal visit for Nuuk this year: in March Prince Joachim,
Princess Marie, Prince Felix and Prince Nikolai had been there and in April Crown Prince Frederik had made
a visit to the town.

That's common curtesy.
Nuuk is the capital of Greenland and as Greenland is autonomous it's only appropriate that members of the DRF, when visiting Greenland in an official capacity, drop by and say hello to the local government.

QMII visited among other things an arctic research station and later she said to the press about the prevailing climate changes in the Arctic and elsewhere:
Der er jo ikke noget at gøre. Man kan ikke lave om på klimaet, når det laver sig selv om. Det må man se i øjnene
Man kan jo ikke gå ud med en dybfryser og lægge ny is på en fjord, vel. Det er, som det er. Men samtidig vil der jo nok ske det, at nye fiskearter vil komme til, og fiskeriet vil få nye dimensioner.
"There is nothing to do. You cannot change the climate when it changes itself/by itself. You have to face that fact. After all you cannot go out with a deep freezer and put new ice on a fjord, can you. It is as it is. But at the same time what will happen is that new species of fish will prevail and the fishery will have new dimensions/will change".

Unsurprisingly that has environmental organisations like Greenpeace and WWF up in arms, stating that she is wrong.

- Okay, that's what climate sceptics have said for years and QMII's statement is very much against the prevailing political attitude and dare I say political correctness. But what if she is right? Whatever you can say about QMII, she is usually not ill informed and you can't accuse her of being slow either.
QMII did not say we shouldn't do something about pollution, excessive use of resources, alternative energy, recycling and so on. - These are in every respect very good ideas!
What she did point out is that we humans may not be the main culprit in the current climate change and as such there is little we can do to prevent is.
There is a reason why Greenland is named Greenland. There is a reason why European settlers settled in Greenland and lived there until the "mini iceage" started about 600 years or so ago. That climate fluctuation lasted about 400 years, and that wasn't caused by humans.
If QMII is right, it's actually even more omnious than what Greenpeace and WWF are saying. If QMII is right, we are pretty much screwed - and we are in for some major transitions in the decades to come.

I think we sometimes have to look at environmental organisations with a critical eye. They have an agenda too. - For example: If there are no humanitarian crisis, there is no need for humanitarian organisations. No organisation is willing to abolish itself, so they beat the drums whenever there are is humanitarian crisis anywhere, especially around Christmas. - But perhaps the money were best spend elsewhere? On other projects than those advocated by the most influential organisations.

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And a story from Billed Bladet illustrating why Dannebrog is always escorted by a warship when sailing away from the Danish coasts: http://www.billedbladet.dk/Kongelige...Dannebrog.aspx
A sailor serving onboard Dannebrog fell seriously ill. The doctor onboard decided he needed urgent medical attention in Nuuk hospital. He and the sailor was sailed to a cliff nearby and here they were hoisted onboard a helicopter from the escorting frigate, Hvidbjørnen.
They were flown to the hospital where the sailor had his appendix removed.
Substitute sailor with a member of the DRF and you get my meaning.

I don't know why the sailor wasn't sailed too to the frigate first. Perhaps the sea was too rough or this was a faster method?

Thanks for this Muhler. Regarding the climate change controversy, of course HM is correct in pointing out the importance of climate change but I do disagree that we cannot do our own part to help minimize our impact as humans on our environment! It is in the North that the effects of climate change are most strongly felt and global warming threatens to change a traditional way of life. In Canada, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuk, has talked about the 'right to be cold' and surely this is also crucial to the survival of Greenlandic culture as admired by HM and her Consort! The climate 'does not change by itself', as the effect of greenhouse gas has been very clearly and scientifically demonstrated. If we all do one small thing to lessen our impact upon the environment (no plastic bottles, walk more, reuse plastic bags etc) surely this will help keep Greenland frozen!

Thanks for this Muhler. Regarding the climate change controversy, of course HM is correct in pointing out the importance of climate change but I do disagree that we cannot do our own part to help minimize our impact as humans on our environment! It is in the North that the effects of climate change are most strongly felt and global warming threatens to change a traditional way of life. In Canada, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuk, has talked about the 'right to be cold' and surely this is also crucial to the survival of Greenlandic culture as admired by HM and her Consort! The climate 'does not change by itself', as the effect of greenhouse gas has been very clearly and scientifically demonstrated. If we all do one small thing to lessen our impact upon the environment (no plastic bottles, walk more, reuse plastic bags etc) surely this will help keep Greenland frozen!

That's what's so interesting.
QMII talked about the changes Greenland is facing in the coming years. And perhaps the Inuits of Canada should prepare for some major changes as well, sooner rather than later. I don't know yet all she had to say about that.

Personally I'm in no doubt that climate changes is taking place these years, what I'm sceptical about is what caused them.
Iceages has come and gone before there were humans. The last one ended about 12.000 years ago and I doubt neoletic man caused that. Something back then made the planet warm up. What?
However we humans do affect the environment very much locally, no doubt about that. But is it enough to trip an entire planet?
Now, I fully believe we should do something drastic about the environment, reduce pollution and use alternative energy - because we have to. Or we risk destroying the basis for our own existance, climate change or not.
The planet don't care about us, nature don't care about us - we wouldn't even be among the first ten million species that has gone extinct.

If this is a normal part of the planets rythm, I wonder how much we can do about it, even if we went completely environmentally sound next year. The cynic in me doubt we humans will be willing to do anything serious before it's too late anyway.
If we can do something it may have to be something almost insanely drastic (and expensive), like Lomborgs's cloudships and covering the ice with balck plastic, just to name two examples that are relatively speaking not too far out.

I say we'd prepare ourselves for the climate change and it won't just be the Arctic it will be bad. It will be bad everywhere. Flooding and lack of water being the main problems.
Everywhere people will have to abandon the old ways and adapt. For example the Masais of Africa will be forced to abandon their cattle and herd camels instead or starve. (That has been tried before, they didn't want to abandon their old ways).
There is research and preparations going on here in DK and other countries about adapting the agriculture and sowing new crops.
Greenland is going through a transition right now, as QMII pointed out, perhaps the inuits of Canada should prepare too.

Incidentally I saw a fascinating programme on History Channel yesterday about the Greenlanders, or Thule people as they are known among anthropologists. It was a pretty technologically advanced people who raced out of Russia crossed Canada in 200 years, wiping our the Dorset culture on their way and arrived in the northern most parts of Greenland a 1.000 years ago, just as the first Europeans settled in the south. - Well the Greenlanders won, there were more of them, they were better adapted and more willing to stay as the climate changed in the 1300's.
They are the present day Greenlanders.

Canadian Inuit are most certainly aware of climate change and are working with 'southerners' as well as their own governments to make necessary adaptations, while still preserving their traditions from years past. One example is the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre - Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
where programs are in place to encourage 'stewardship' of the Arctic.

By the way, Scandinavia was in the Canadian news this morning with the report that the government of Norway is claiming the wreck of MAUD, a ship used by Roald Amundsen in a failed attempt to navigate the NW passage. However local Inuk do not want to give up the potential tourism revenue so that there is yet another tug of war going on between our two regions!Politics - The Globe and Mail

Canadian Inuit are most certainly aware of climate change and are working with 'southerners' as well as their own governments to make necessary adaptations, while still preserving their traditions from years past. One example is the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre - Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
where programs are in place to encourage 'stewardship' of the Arctic.

That's good to hear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gerry

By the way, Scandinavia was in the Canadian news this morning with the report that the government of Norway is claiming the wreck of MAUD, a ship used by Roald Amundsen in a failed attempt to navigate the NW passage. However local Inuk do not want to give up the potential tourism revenue so that there is yet another tug of war going on between our two regions!Politics - The Globe and Mail

Well, I think I'll side with Inuks on this one.
That wreck is very much a part of Arctic history so why not let it remain there? And the Inuks can probably use the money.
Why not invite the Norwegian royals to come and see the wreck? It's better it turns out this way
Or even better, it could become a stop for one of Haakon, Frederik and Victoria's arctic trips. - Perhaps William could join in...

Anyway, to my utter surprise, apart from a few quirps form the environmental organisations, QMII's statements is already yesterdays news. That despite that we are in the height of the silly season. Example: A cancelled Take That concert has been headline news for three days! - No kidding!
Who cares about famine in Africa and the economy 'n stuff, Take That ain't playing....!
But perhaps Greenpeace and WWF are closed for the holiday?

Well, I think I'll side with Inuks on this one.
That wreck is very much a part of Arctic history so why not let it remain there? And the Inuks can probably use the money.
Why not invite the Norwegian royals to come and see the wreck? It's better it turns out this way
Or even better, it could become a stop for one of Haakon, Frederik and Victoria's arctic trips. - Perhaps William could join in...

Anyway, to my utter surprise, apart from a few quirps form the environmental organisations, QMII's statements is already yesterdays news. That despite that we are in the height of the silly season. Example: A cancelled Take That concert has been headline news for three days! - No kidding!
Who cares about famine in Africa and the economy 'n stuff, Take That ain't playing....!
But perhaps Greenpeace and WWF are closed for the holiday?

No Greenpeace and WWF are not closed but newspaper editors need to sell papers not ideas. Coincidentally (although I don't believe in coincidence:), a Canadian TV journalist Kai Nagata wrote a blog entry that has gone viral on this very subject when he quit he job. I attach a link to his site www.kainagata.com
so you can read of his despair when serious newsreporting is eclipsed by frivolous things like royal visits. Of course readers of this forum would never consider such momentous events as unworthy of profound consideration, but I do think his point is well taken.

DR1 will cover the Regent Couple's visit to Greenland this Saturday the 23. at 19.05. It will last 55 minuttes.
Another programme sheduled to be shown at 19.05, will be postponed. So don't let that confuse you.
Perhaps someone will post a link?